Category: Technology

It’s no secret that the B2B landscape has changed drastically in the last few decades. At the forefront of these changes, of course, is technology. Whether directly or indirectly, technology has changed the way companies do business with one another. What this means for your company is: If you haven’t kept up to date with the current trends in the world of B2B commerce, you run the risk of losing out to competing companies who are more prepared to meet the expectations of their clients and business partners. That being said, this article will take a look at five...

There’s a false conception that if you’re a midsize or small business, you can’t afford the e-commerce suites that drive revenue for the biggest companies in the B2B market. Cloud commerce has changed all of that, and promises to level the playing field between midmarket and big brands, manufacturers, and wholesalers in the digital age. B2B buying landscape has changed Today B2B customers require the same level of service and options that they enjoy in their personal lives, as the lines between B2B and B2C have blurred. If you’re not providing your clients with the same high-end customer experience...

The B2B customer buying journey has been forever transformed by the internet, and this has major implications for manufacturers, brands, and distributors – are you acting? The writing on the wall has become reality. B2B selling channels have forever changed in the age of the internet and mobile devices. Traditional selling models have shifted, and the central communication point for business value propositions has moved from physical to digital in most industries. Forrester Research reports that as much as 70% of the buying process is already completed before the buyer even contacts a potential supplier. Product preferences and buying decisions...

How manufacturers can adopt a trial-and-error mentality to catch up on the data-driven challenge. Leveraging the power of fresh, granular data for business success is becoming a question of life or death – and not just for companies that operate primarily in technology- or internet-focused fields. In fact, CEOs in all industries, including traditional “old-line” businesses such as some manufacturers, are realizing the power of “data-driven transformation,” or embedding data throughout the company’s operations. And they would certainly like the 20% to 30% EBITDA gains that their peers are racking up by using data effectively in sales, marketing, supply...

Of all that the Internet of Things (IoT) promises, manufacturers seem most focused on supply chain efficiency, and with good reason. Under constant pressure to reduce costs and get to market faster, but having limited ways to do so, IoT’s promise of faster, cheaper, and better is alluring. Getting less attention in IoT discussions is the potential for revenue growth through innovation. Practically speaking, it’s easier to improve an existing operation than to improve things that haven’t yet been imagined. That vision will get clearer as manufacturers get their IoT sea legs. But how much time is there? Digital native consumers have shown little...

There’s a good chance something you’ve bought online has been in the hands of a “picker” first. These are the workers in warehouses who pick, pack and ship all those things we’re ordering. At Amazon and other companies, they’re working side by side with robots. Experts say while the robots are replacing some human workers, the machines aren’t quite ready to take over completely. To keep pace with a growing hunger for fast delivery, more pickers are being hired in the distribution industry. And on the outskirts of the Bay Area, a school is using technology to train students...

Like so many Midwestern kids of a certain age, Gabriel Glynn was raised around manufacturing. And like so many Midwestern kids of a certain age, he shifted away from the factories and their production while still relatively young. Why not explore some other corners of the working world? After a stint in corporate America, Glynn developed a handful of different companies, every previous effort unfolding into the next. After a decade, he had shifted his focus from insurance and inventory to building digital industrial products, ever evolving with newer technology. Skills and lessons learned during previous stops were always...

In 1958, America found itself in the midst of its worst economic slump since the Great Depression. There had been other recessions, from 1948 to 1949 and from 1953 to 1954, but they were less severe. The latest downturn, which began in the summer of 1957, turned serious by winter. In January 1958, Life magazine visited Peoria, Illinois, and found the mood there to be gloomy. Caterpillar, the heavy equipment maker and the big provider of jobs in town, had already laid off 6,000 workers and cut back to a 4-day week. “Trouble is already here for some people,”...

Fujitsu Limited and Daido University Professor Yasuhiro Maeda have jointly developed new simulation technology that can accurately replicate splash and wave behavior in the surface of molten metals when they are being poured. In the casting process, which is used in component manufacturing in a variety of fields, such as automobiles and IT devices, molten metal is poured into a mold to be cast into a shape. The way molten metal flows through the interior of a mold significantly effects casting quality, but because the interior is impossible to see, there has been a demand for a simulation that...

Advanced technology in robotics has stirred a sense of uneasiness in the workforce. While robots eliminate some jobs, it has also prolonged careers. YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — Toward the rear of QFM Stamping Inc.’s plant in Salem, a brightly painted yellow robotic arm zips back and forth, stopping at programmed intervals to weld portions of a component used in the rail car industry. The bed that holds the part lifts and turns as the automated arm adjusts and prepares for its next targeted weld. “We can program it to weld just about anything we need to, as long as we have the...

Watsco Inc., a distributor of heating, ventilation and air-conditioning products with $4.2 billion in sales last year, has its eye on competitors like Amazon.com Inc. But it’s not afraid of e-commerce or digital technology. Instead, it’s investing about $23 million a year in e-commerce, mobile apps and upgraded warehousing and fulfillment systems to help differentiate Watsco from its online as well as offline competition, executives said on a first quarter earnings call yesterday with stock analysts. Watsco is spending $23 million annually on innovative technologies to transform our business. Albert H. Nahmad, chairman and CEO After Watsco’s executives noted...

The relentless hype around digital in consumer-packaged-goods (CPG) manufacturing has left many leaders disoriented and paralyzed by the many buzzwords and the promised benefits of digital tools. At the same time, their efforts to gain traction with digital are hindered by legacy systems, processes, and capabilities. A recent McKinsey survey of senior CPG leaders found that most consider digital technologies to be a priority, but few have defined a clear strategic vision linked to actions. The major obstacles cited were a lack of skilled resources, out-of-date software models and an inadequate IT infrastructure, the absence of data standards, and obsolete...

Digital transformation, digital business, digitization, digital disruption. There are countless ways to phrase it, but it boils down to this. When digital technologies enable new business models, that’s digital transformation. Digital factory initiatives are generating incredible business outcomes, and at the core there’s a common denominator—a digital-ready infrastructure. Manufacturers’ Distinct Take on Digital Transformation In manufacturing, digital transformation means consumers using virtual reality to design their own products. It includes collaboration across multiple engineering teams or between customers and plant floor experts. It means robotics bringing new levels of automation and accuracy to the plant floor. Digital transformation cranks up...

Emotions critically influence all aspects of our lives, from how we live, work, learn and play, to the decisions we make, big and small. Emotions drive how we communicate and connect with each other, and impact our health and well-being. Human emotional intelligence (or your EQ) is our ability to recognize not only our own emotions but also those of other people, and to use emotions to guide our behaviour, adapt to different environments and achieve our goals. Humans with high EQ lead more successful professional and personal lives – they are more likable and more persuasive, tend to be more...

One hundred years ago, a vertically integrated manufacturing complex in Schenectady, NY, defined the company behind the famous blue monogram. Today, the future of General Electric is in San Ramon, CA. That’s the home of GE Digital. America’s largest industrial conglomerate is in the midst of a major initiative to redefine manufacturing in the 21st century. The 125-year-old organization is developing a vast network of sensor technology and smart software to transform itself into a “brilliant factory.” The goal is to create a companywide system of connected machines and digital production plants. General Electric has been synonymous with Six...

Remember Google Glass? They’re the headsets that look like regular glasses but have a small computer on the side to speak to and access the Internet. If that’s not ringing a bell, it could be because Google Glass fizzled out and was discontinued in the consumer market. But now, it’s getting a second life in the manufacturing industry. One of the pioneers of this technology is a company based in suburban Atlanta. AGCO has factories all over the world where it makes large tractors, chemical sprayers and other farm equipment. At one of AGCO’s factories, Heather Erickson is putting together a tractor...

The manufacturing sector is in the midst of a period of great change, as growing and emerging physical and digital connectivity disrupts the global landscape, creating far-reaching implications for business and locations. Last year was a year of disruption in many respects – as events such as Brexit and the US Presidential election affected both economic performance and how businesses operated on the global stage. For the manufacturing sector, macro events such as these also carried risk, particularly in terms of regulation and market access. However, there is also something bigger on the horizon that will impact how and...

NASA has released its 2017-2018 software catalog, which offers an extensive portfolio of software products for a wide variety of technical applications, all free of charge to the public, without any royalty or copyright fees. Available in both hard copy and online, this third edition of the publication has contributions from all the agency’s centers on data processing/storage, business systems, operations, propulsion and aeronautics. It includes many of the tools NASA uses to explore space and broaden our understanding of the universe. A number of software packages are being presented for release for the first time. Each catalog entry...

The information services industry, which has seen a huge spurt in information and communication technology innovation, has likely stagnated in terms of value added to overall GDP. Here’s a look at what could be driving this puzzling trend. Over the last two decades, an explosion of information and communication technology (ICT) innovation has changed the way we consume goods and services, ranging from maps to entertainment. Despite this, the information services industry—under which ICT is roughly classified—is still approximately the same proportion of GDP as it was 35 years ago. This statistic is likely to sound absurd to business...

Accelerating technology has been creating a lot of worry over job loss to automation, especially as machines become capable of doing things they never could in the past. A recent report released by the McKinsey Global Instituteestimated that 49 percent of job activities could currently be fully automated—that equates to 1.1 billion workers globally. What gets less buzz is the other side of the coin: automation helping to create jobs. Believe it or not, it does happen, and we can look at one of the world’s largest retailers to see that. Thanks in part to more robots in its fulfillment centers,...

The venture arm of Caterpillar Inc., a major manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, has invested in San Francisco drone tech startup Airware. Rather than make its own unmanned aerial vehicles, Airware has focused its efforts around providing software and services that help large enterprises use drones throughout their operations. Airware’s cloud-based software helps companies plan flights, automate those as much as possible, then analyze all the data their drones collect. In putting drones to work, large construction, mining and insurance companies generally seek to cut costs, improve worker safety or increase their revenue and productivity. The founder and CEO of Airware, Jonathan Downey, tells TechCrunch that the company has...

New England’s once-formidable textile industry is largely gone, but in Connecticut, its legacy continues in manufacturing of wire and cable products used for electric utilities, power plants, trains and industry. In East Granby, Marmon Engineered Wire & Cable LLC operates a research and development center looking at ways to develop engineered cables for harsh industrial applications. The intent is to come up with products that use fewer materials, provide sensing elements to spot and fix troubles and otherwise build next-generation cables and wires. And it runs a nearly century-old factory nearby making a vast range of cables, wires and...

Cloud computing, robotics, analytics, artificial intelligence and automation, a new class of digital disruptors is transforming how business gets done. These disruptors will influence big changes in the future of finance organizations. How will they make these impacts and what does the future look like with these developments? This research with finance executives, including in-depth interviews with CFOs of global businesses, examines these shifts. No matter what future you see ahead for your finance organization, processing more information more efficiently is important. But it doesn’t stop there. Taking this information and turning it into deeper insights at fast speeds will be even more...

The need to invest operations and processes in the digital innovations touches all companies in every industry. B2B companies are seeing a shift in customer attention as they gravitate toward digital tools to research and buy products. B2B selling is more complex, however, involving more decision makers and influencers involved in final purchasing decisions. Higher price points, an array of products and specifications, and many competing sales channels, both traditional and digital, are affecting these types of sales. Having different needs at different stages of the customer decision journey isn’t uncommon either. A balanced approach across channels often includes communication over a variety of digital channels. Over the...

Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) was planning to build the world’s largest single-site aluminum smelter. Immense amounts of electricity, around 800 megawatts, are required to heat the metal to nearly 1,000 degrees Celsius. Alba’s issue was finding a power plant to provide the energy. General Electric’s (GE) HA-turbines, which set a world record for efficiency last year, will power the world’s largest aluminum smelter in Bahrain. Despite being brand new, GE’s HA-turbine, set a world record for efficiency. Furthermore, Alba would only consider buying turbine models that had been in operation at least 8,000 hours, or just under a year. To solidify the deal, GE built a digital twin...

Hyla Soft’s vision is to provide innovative technology solutions that advance the way the manufacturing world works. For that reason, Hyla Soft is proud to have joined forces with partner Siemens and the Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation Institute to support digital manufacturing initiatives and projects for ambitious manufacturing companies aiming to automate and transform in order to meet the demands of an ever-increasingly competitive global market. So, what is the Digital Enterprise all about and how do we get there? The Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation Institute, a federally-funded research and development organization of UI LABS, encourages factories...

The Anita Borg Institute celebrates and highlights the success of women technologists. They are inspired by the examples they set, moved by their sacrifices, and stirred by their extraordinary commitment to excellence, progress and creative problem-solving. To show their appreciation, the Anita Borg Institute presents the ABIE (pronounced ab-ee) Awards to honor these distinguished women and those who view technology innovation as a strategic imperative. Through their achievements and life stories, the ABIE Award winners demonstrate the power to improve our world, individually and collectively, that each of us possesses. All ABIE Award winners are recognized at the Grace Hopper Celebration. Nominations open January...

“We are also starting to see more applications where AI is becoming part of a “living system,” where it’s continuously learning.” -GE’s Mark Grabb. Every fall, GE Global Research holds a scientific gathering called the Whitney Symposium highlighting the latest scientific trends. Last year the two-day event explored industrial applications of artificial intelligence. We sat down Mark Grabb and Achalesh Pandey, two GE scientists looking for ways to apply AI to jet engines, medical scanners and other machines. “We are starting to see significant performance increases from the combination of deep learning and reinforcement learning, where you have a...

Supply chains traditionally are linear in nature, with a discrete progression of design, plan, source, make, and deliver. Today, however, many supply chains are transforming from a staid sequence to a dynamic, interconnected system that can more readily incorporate ecosystem partners and evolve to a more optimal state over time. This shift from linear, sequential supply chain operations to an interconnected, open system of supply operations could lay the foundation for how companies compete in the future. We call this interconnected, open system a digital supply network (DSN). DSNs integrate information from many different sources and locations to drive the physical act of production and...

Manufacturers in the United States have created an innovation engine that has delivered new technologies and processes that have brought us energy independence, new lifesaving medicines and medical devices, more efficient automobiles and countless other everyday products that make lives better and secure our nation’s global leadership position in manufacturing. ...

Those who wish others could read their minds will enjoy a breakthrough technology out of the lab of Thenkurussi (Kesh) Kesavadas. The professor of Industrial and Enterprise Systems Engineering at the University of Illinois and his team have used brain computer interface (BCI) to control a robot. In its third year of funding, this National Science Foundation project has proven that human experts can look at an object on an assembly line and through sensors from their brain tell a robot to remove a defective object from a conveyor belt. PhD student Yao Li demonstrates the technology which uses...

It has become absolutely vital for manufacturers to take steps toward a modern future. Businesses that rely on outdated equipment, antiquated monitoring and testing processes are hurting themselves. This leaves businesses vulnerable as modern manufactures quickly become more competitive while offering more to their customers. Competitiveness is key and the current business landscape is a testament to this fact. Manufacturers are utilizing digital tools like the Industrial Internet of Things, Cloud based ERP and CRM systems while at the same time updating their equipment to further connect their facilities. Click Here to Read the Full...

Autonomous vehicles. Smart phones. Lifesaving medicines. All are made possible by the innovation of manufacturers. Technology is transforming the manufacturing industry, and the manufacturing industry is transforming our world. Manufacturers in the United States perform more than three-quarters of all private-sector research and development (R&D) in the nation, driving more innovation than any other sector, changing our society and helping Americans live better lives. But our continued progress is not guaranteed. We need our leaders to embrace policies that encourage innovation—not stand in its way—because a country that can’t invent, can’t lead. Click Here to Read the Full...

Industrial Analytics (IA) describes the collection, analysis and usage of data generated in industrial operations and throughout the entire product lifecycle, applicable to any company that is manufacturing and selling physical products. It involves traditional methods of data capture and statistical modeling. However, most of its future value will be enabled by advancements in connectivity (IoT) and improved methods for analyzing and interpreting data (Machine Learning). A fascinating report on how Industrial Analytics is maturing based on advances in the areas of IoT, machine learning, and big data analytics was published this week. Click Here to Read the...

Americans invented the core high-technologies that enable the modern digital age, but they didn’t get a large share of the jobs created by these new industries. High-tech is dominated by Asia, where governments target its growth as vital to their economic development. The relationship between industry and the state is tight. In countries like China, Taiwan and South Korea, government-corporate partnerships provide patient capital, skilled workers and protection for intellectual property. Their progress has been remarkable. Between 1999 and 2014, the World Bank reports, global exports of high-technology products (computers, aerospace, electrical machinery, pharmaceuticals and other “R&D intensive” products)...

In the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in a corner of South Carolina sits a town that should be economically dead. For decades, Greenville was the heart of the state’s textile industry—and its economic engine. First attracted by the area’s fast-moving rivers as a way to power looms, textile manufacturers employed tens of thousands of people here. Beginning in the 1970s, however, facing competition from lower-cost manufacturing regions like Mexico and Southeast Asia, these companies began to struggle. Over the next decades, many factories closed. Others moved production overseas. In 1990, 48,000 people still worked in textile manufacturing in...

Running a productive and efficient warehouse is essential for every business that deals with inventories, freight, and shipping. When there is no functional system organizing the items in the store, their storing and extracting, there can be many delays or wreckages, which can end up badly for the company’s reputation. Fortunately, keeping a warehouse on point has never been as easy as today, with all the useful technology innovations. Let us dive deeper into this topic and see what are the tools available for maximizing warehouse productivity and how exactly is technology making its contribution. Click Here to Read the...

Government scientists are seeking industry input on a project that will produce design blueprints to help manufacturers and chemical plants use special computerized production processes that are secure from online attacks. In a release, the National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence said they were seeking comment by Dec. 7 on their draft project description: Capabilities Assessment for Securing Manufacturing Industrial Control Systems. Industrial control systems, or ICS, are specialized IT systems — with both software and hardware elements — that run industrial processes. Because ICS controls physical plant like factory assembly lines or chemical processing, hackers can have real world effects by attacking it. “A cyberattack...

Twenty-first century manufacturing is really a kind of sci-fi dream come true. Today’s industry is absolutely brimming with fancy new gadgets and technological miracles designed to serve one purpose: make better products. And make them faster and cheaper than ever before. Click Here to Read the Full...

Transforming manufacturing with advanced digital tools is well underway, but manufacturers who haven’t adopted Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) or Industrial 4.0 strategies are best advised to take a long look at the digital future of manufacturing. At SME’s Smart Manufacturing Series’ Digital Transformation seminar held Wednesday at the Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation Institute (DMDII) at UI Labs in Chicago, many key players in the smart manufacturing world offered a glimpse of where manufacturers’ efforts stand in their digitizing efforts, and how far they have to go in adapting to a fully digital manufacturing world. Click Here...

The manufacturing industry is built on a foundation of innovation — myriad parts, processes and practices that leverage technology in exciting new ways, building upon previous advances to continue the forward march of progress. Oftentimes these innovations are relatively small — incrementally moving the industry forward and making manufacturing processes safer, more efficient, more productive and more profitable. Every so often, however, something big — and potentially transformative — improves and enhances manufacturing processes not in baby steps, but in leaps and bounds. Whether that is a new technology, a new approach, or a new category of innovative tools...

There’s a lot of excitement surrounding the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), but examples of how the IIoT is changing manufacturing are not always easy to enumerate. Moreover, given the abstract nature of the IIoT, the benefits of connected manufacturing can be difficult to discern. Fortunately, Plex Systems, a provider of cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP) for manufacturing, recently announced the results of its annual survey examining the use of technology by leading manufacturers. The 2016 Plex State of Manufacturing Technology study provides insights from nearly 200 manufacturing organizations. Click Here to Read the Full...

Millennials’ technology expectations have been shaped by smartphones, Facebook and digital media — in other words, by easy and ubiquitous connectivity. It’s not surprising, then, that traditional manufacturing systems can seem as retro as waiting for dial-up internet to connect. And that’s bad for the manufacturing sector, because its skills gap is looming large. A joint study by the Manufacturing Institute and Deloitte Consulting projects a surge of nearly 3.5 million open manufacturing jobs created over the next decade. Some of the empty slots will come by way of retiring baby boomers, while others are related to new positions created as a...

Ford utilizes co-bots with its factory workers at Cologne plant in Germany. These collaborative robots aren’t replacing their human counterparts, instead, they’re in the workplace side by side with these 4,000 factory workers. At Ford’s factory in Cologne, Germany, a new kind of robot is sitting by the assembly line helping manufacture the legendary automaker’s cars. But these collaborative robots, or co-bots, aren’t replacing their human counterparts at this Ford Fiesta plant. Instead, they’re working side by side with 4,000 Ford factory workers, and not for them. “The workforce is really helping us define how they can contribute more by using the collaborative robots to do some...

“Offering excellent physical products has become table stakes for competing in today’s economy. More and more, features that depend on software and the services it provides are the factors that differentiate companies, create competitive advantage, and launch new revenue streams.” Throughout its nearly 180-year history, John Deere has been an innovation leader. Its first product was a polished-steel plow that outperformed existing tools. And over the decades, the company’s research and development (R&D) efforts were aimed squarely at improving the mechanical and functional performance of its products. Today, Deere’s iconic green machinery is recognized the world over for quality...

These and many other insights are from the second annual survey from Plex Systems, 2016 State of Manufacturing Technology Report (17 pp, PDF, free, opt-in). Plex Systems surveyed 197 manufacturers from different sectors ranging from the automotive to the food and beverage industries, on the technologies they rely on and the tools they plan to incorporate in the coming years. Of the companies surveyed, over 75% operate multiple manufacturing facilities. In contrast to the perception of the manufacturing industry consolidating, nearly 90% are achieving growth over the last five years. Click Here for the Full...

GE was still essentially a startup when its managers hired young MIT chemistry professor Willis Whitney to open the company’s first laboratory in 1900. Unlike Thomas Edison’s Menlo Park “invention factory” in New Jersey, the place was a modest affair. It was located in a wooden barn behind the house of GE’s resident polymath and engineering wizard Charles Steinmetz in Schenectady, New York, where GE co-founder Edison moved in the 1880s. Things didn’t start well. The lab — dedicated to “fundamental research” — went up in flames the next spring, but Whitney’s career and momentum continued. He rebuilt the lab and...

When ERP giant SAP bets on a new technology, other software developers are impacted. SAP is a dominant IT force among the world’s companies. The German ERP and PLM player’s software forms the backbone of an overwhelming proportion of global corporate IT processes. The numbers are staggering: 76 percent of the world’s transactions run on an SAP system, totalling about $39 trillion in global commerce. This is why even the largest players in the PLM space sometimes find it more fruitful to build bridges to SAP solutions, rather than compete with them. Click Here to Read the Full...

With the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) gradually opening up the sky ways to commercial drone use, UPS has begun preparing for the day when delivery drone are as ubiquitous as those big brown vans. In partnership with drone manufacturer CyPhy Works, the global logistics leader executed a mock delivery of an asthma inhaler to an island three miles off the Massachusetts coast. Click Here to Read the Full...

GE Digital and Bosch Software Innovations partner to find a way for machines and devices to understand each other despite language barriers. When the machines of tomorrow talk to each other, what language will they speak? Will a German car be able to communicate with traffic in America, and a jet engine from Cincinnati with a maintenance shop in China? GE Digital and Bosch Software Innovations, the Bosch Group’s software and systems house, are working together to make machines and devices understand each other through a common language. Those standards are needed. There will be more than 50 billion devices connected to the...

“Hello, I’m NAVii. How can I help you?” This is how the store associate of the future may greet you. Starting in the fall, Lowe’s shoppers in the San Francisco Bay Area will be greeted by autonomous robots. The LoweBot speaks multiple languages, and will be deployed to 11 stores to help guide home improvers to find items in store. “This is a response to things people wanted since retail began, but up until now there just wasn’t the technology to be able to make that happen,” said Kyle Nel, executive director of Lowe’s Innovation Labs. Click Here to...

These 8 Internet of Things and US technologies will change the future of manufacturing moving forward. How and where will we see these advancements? Think the Holodeck from “Star” Trek is purely science fiction? Can a factory operate 24/7 without any humans inside? “You will see completely lights out factories for manufacturing,” said Rowan Trollope, senior vice president and general manager of Cisco Systems’ IoT and Collaboration Technology Group. “You’re going to see manufacturing technologies that are even easier to automate … that are really going to transform manufacturing.” Predicting the future of IoT and unified communications can be daunting, so...

Will humans prefer to talk with machines? Cognitive assistants already set your sleep alarm, turn down the thermostat at night, and tell you which movies are playing at the mall. And, as a new generation of personal , social robots is introduced to consumers in the next few years, they are likely to play a larger role in customer support as well. One of the great concerns about artificial intelligence (AI) is that it will replace people altogether. Ironically, however, it is increasingly apparent that interacting with people is one of the key tasks of AI. “Cognitive assistants”—systems that...

The first industrial revolution came with the introduction of water and steam power. Then came mass production, followed by computerization. Now, the Internet of Things (IoT) is ushering in the fourth industrial revolution. To remain competitive in this new global economy, traditional logistics and manufacturing companies must transform operations and offerings. Manual processes, disparate systems and legacy technology often hamstring innovation for these mature businesses, meanwhile silos of information prevent collaborative problem-solving and a unified perspective across centralized and decentralized locations. Click Here to Read the Full...

Robots are changing the face of automation and the future of manufacturing. Here are 5 videos showcasing what they can do. Industrial automation is of growing importance for manufacturers across the country and with the help of the Internet, it couldn’t be easier to find information about one of the key automation technologies: robots. We’ve compiled a collection of videos below, all under five minutes in length, on a variety of topics about industrial robots. The videos examine everything from the 10 most popular applications for industrial robots, to safety, to the world’s first tattoo by a robot and...

Internet of things is gaining appeal and the most important players are investing in IoT. Internet of things promises to be a technological revolution that will invest every area: industrial, transportation, energy everyday life and so on. As we have seen in previous posts there are several IoT definitions highlighting different aspects and there are many solutions to implement IoT projects. IoT promises to connect all the devices together and enable them to exchange information like wearable, home devices, smart objects. All this information is gathered and analysed to improve our life. Click Here to Read the Full...

Talk to any manufacturing executive and odds are they have heard of Industry 4.0. Originally coined in Germany through a technology project to computerize manufacturing, Industry 4.0 has now launched into a worldwide initiative to transform the manufacturing sector. Japan and China have even coined their own “Industrial Value Chain Initiative” and “Made in China 2025″ slogans to emphasize their dedication to this strategy. And there is good reason for why Industry 4.0 projects are popping up at every manufacturing company. Click Here to Read the Original...

A manager at a large automotive parts manufacturer wrote to advancedmanufacturing.org and said he was preparing a recommendation for his senior leadership team to create a new job position: a coordinator of manufacturing technologies across the company’s nearly dozen factories in North America. For now, he told them, he was calling it “Shop Floor Technology Manager,” and this new position would oversee the coordination and integration of hardware and software manufacturing technologies. “Right now,” he said, all of the factories “are doing a little bit of something on their own with no oversight.” Click Here to Read the Full...

Google’s artificial intelligence researchers are starting to have to code around their own code, writing patches that limit a robot’s abilities so that it continues to develop down the path desired by the researchers — not by the robot itself. It’s the beginning of a long-term trend in robotics and AI in general: once we’ve put in all this work to increase the insight of an artificial intelligence, how can we make sure that insight will only be applied in the ways we would like? Click Here to Read the Full...

We at are an inflection point for the development and adoption of IoT technology, that’s the main takeaway from a new report on the Internet of Thing industry from Morgan Stanley published last week. The IoT market has moved on significantly over the past 12 months. This time last year there was much hype surrounding the technology, although many speculated it would be years before the public widely adapted IoT devices. However, according to Morgan Stanley’s research, almost the entire semiconductor industry is preparing for the manufacture and introduction of IoT devices and related hardware to the market. Click Here to Read...

Scientists and engineers are excitedly mixing and matching these emerging materials to produce tailored materials optimized for a wide range of functions. New materials can change the world. There is a reason we talk about the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. Concrete, stainless steel, and silicon made the modern era possible. Now a new class of materials, each consisting of a single layer of atoms, are emerging, with far-reaching potential. Known as two-dimensional materials, this class has grown within the past few years to include lattice-like layers of carbon (graphene), boron (borophene) and hexagonal boron nitride (aka white graphene), germanium (germanene),...

The future of robots will have them functioning more like co-workers rather than factory machinery. Rethink Robotics is working towards this collaboration of humans and machines. When the first industrial robot, Unimate, appeared on a General Motors assembly in 1961, it was a modern marvel. The job it performed, transporting die-castings and welding them onto car bodies was not only onerous, but dangerous to human workers, who faced both the risk of injury and being exposed to toxic fumes. Over the last 50 years, robotic machinery has been vastly improved. Due to more sensitive motors and actuators, they’ve become incredibly precise, which enables...

Vayyar Imaging, the 3D imaging sensor company, has developed a new tool that makes it possible for contractors to see through cement, drywall, and other materials, making home diagnostic and repair projects much easier. Designed and created for remodelers, contractors, and serious DIYers, WalabotDIY helps users determine the location of pipes, wires, and even rodents’ nests, the company says. Click Here to Read the Full...

The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is increasingly becoming an important part of business and daily functions. Answer questions you didn’t even know to ask with this rapid-fire IIoT and Big Data Analytics infographic: ...

Aligning the organization for its digital future: Findings from the 2016 digital business global executive study and research report Many companies are responding to an increasingly digital market environment by adding roles with a digital focus or changing traditional roles to have a digital orientation. The list of “digital” business roles and functions is extensive and growing. There are now digital strategists, chief digital officers, digital engagement managers, digital finance managers, digital marketing managers, and digital supply chain managers, among other positions. Despite the proliferation of digital roles and responsibilities, most executives recognize that their companies are not adequately...

To remain competitive and retain its place at the forefront in the world economy, America needs to accelerate its use of Smart Manufacturing so its companies and their employees can work smarter not harder in this technology Industrial Revolution. According to a survey of 180 leading U.S. manufacturers by the Digital Manufacturing & Design Innovation Institute, 80 percent said that digital operations are a “critical driver of every organization’s manufacturing competitiveness.” And 61 percent said digital is “a senior leadership priority.” But only 13 percent said their organization has “digital manufacturing capability today.” CEOs at 4th annual Smart Manufacturing Summit, in Milwaukee,...

Executives have reported that innovation is extremely important to business and, with the help of big data, they should know more about their customers than ever before. However, the truth is that innovation is easier said than successfully implemented. By Clayton M. Christensen, Taddy Hall, Karen Dillon, David S. Duncan | Harvard Business Review For as long as we can remember, innovation has been a top priority—and a top frustration—for leaders. In a recent McKinsey poll, 84% of global executives reported that innovation was extremely important to their growth strategies, but a staggering 94% were dissatisfied with their organizations’ innovation performance. Most people would agree that the...

When: May 3-5, 2016 Where: Rosemont, IL The nature of the industry is constantly changing from the ever-growing skills gap to the internet of things, drones, driverless vehicles, robotics and a slew of technologies and practices shaping the future. Manufacturing is evolving and industry 4.0 is a hot topic. The best way to stay competitive in a market that requires cutting-edge shifts is to keep up to date on education and products. The IndustryWeek Manufacturing & Technology Conference & Expo is the place to go for learning more about these challenges. Here are 4 activities to get excited about: Keynotes...

Mfg4 surpasses the traditional manufacturing technology event by delivering content and suppliers mandated by industry. Mfg4 is an event for industry developed by industry, with an emphasis on industry-specific solutions with attention to cross-collaboration.

The 2016 AHR Expo will be taking place January 25-27 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. The expo is the world’s largest marketplace for heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVACR), with over 60,000 HVACR professionals in attendance. Nearly 50 free seminars are offered on a range of topics conducted by experts representing top industry organizations. In addition, continuous education courses and certification opportunities will be available to attendees. Around 80 exhibitors will also be presenting their latest projects to highlight some of the upcoming technologies and trends in the HVACR industry. Show Dates & Hours:...

Every year, advancements are made in the field of 3D printing. Some industries are quicker to adapt and seek out change than others. Here are some of the fields where 3D printing has taken a leap this year. Space Last year, NASA and Made in Space, 3D printed the first object in space. This year, NASA, together with America Makes, hosted the 3-D Printed Habitat Challenge. The goal of the challenge was to use 3D printing and additive construction to create housing solutions on Mars that are safe and sustainable using in-situ resources, such as planetary dust. Teams were judged on the appearance...

This weekend marks the first day of summer, and while some of us might be preparing for vacations and long weekends there are also many trade shows to look forward to. Fastener News Desk has outlined a preview of the upcoming shows for the next few months bringing us into fall, as well as the shows corresponding Twitter accounts and hashtags. Social media is constantly growing and becoming more relevant to industries of every kind, especially for those who can’t attend every trade show in person. To see the growth in popularity of a trade show hashtag just search one of...

On May 12, 2015, Hudson Fasteners Executive Vice President Cris A. Young @CrisAYoung attended the Manny Awards in Cleveland, Ohio. The Manny Awards celebrate manufacturing excellence in Northeast Ohio, and included a panel discussion in addition to the awards ceremony. A big thank you to guest blogger Cris A. Young for sharing her experience at the Manny Awards with us: This year the 2015 Manny Awards were held at Corporate College at Cuyahoga Community College @TriCedu in Cleveland. Prior to the awards ceremony I attended the morning panel discussion, led by Jennifer Keirn, Managing Editor of Inside Business @IBMagazine, with panelists: Tracy Albers, PhD., President and...

This week Distributor’s Link Magazine made an exciting an announcement, with the launch of a brand new app. The new Link app was created to continue giving readers the best experience possible, and in today’s ever growing technology-focused world that experience calls for mobile accessibility. According to Pew Research Center, 90% of American adults own a cell phone, and 63% of American adults use their cell phones to go online. The Link Magazine app meets the demand of those large numbers, and it offers some exciting features that fastener professionals can utilize. Fastener News Desk was able to speak...

Women’s History Month was established by the United States Congress in 1987, and actually began as Women’s History Week in 1981. It is a month that has been dedicated to honoring the contributions of amazing women today and throughout history. Throughout the year many organizations like the Women in the Fastener Industry, United States Women’s Chamber of Commerce, Women In Manufacturing,Women in Technology, Million Women Mentors, AAUW and more work tirelessly to promote success, opportunity and equality for women everywhere. Women in the Fastener Industry Women in the Fastener Industry @fastenerwomen provide members with two scholarship opportunities that memorialize two very important women in the fastener industry – the Ann Bisgyer Wolz Scholarship and the...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 27, 2015 America Makes Announces Project Call Youngstown, Ohio — February 27, 2015. America Makes, the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute, is proud to announce its next project call for additive manufacturing (AM) applied research and development projects. Driven by the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM), America Makes will provide up to $8 million in funding toward these projects with at least $8 million in matching cost share from the awarded project teams for total funding worth $16 million. “Today’s announcement marks yet another significant investment in AM made available through the...

The second annual TEDxYoungstown @TEDxYoungstown was held Friday January 23, 2015 at Youngstown State University @youngstownstate.TEDx is an independently organized TED event, that is produced locally to inspire a community. The follow up to the first ever #TEDxYo did extremely well – when sales more than doubled the event was moved to an even larger venue at Bliss Hall on the campus of Youngstown State University. One of the TEDxYoungstown organizers Bob McGovern shared with us, “Because Lori Shandor (TEDxYoungstown Chairperson) attended TEDActive 2014 in British Columbia, the 100-person cap on attendance in place for the first event was removed. As a result, we were able to more than...

Fastener News Desk‘s Fastener Training Q&A with Chad Schron January 19, 2015 Responses from Chad Schron, Co-founder and Vice President of Operations and Technology, Tooling U-SME 1. What value does Tooling U-SME believe that training brings to manufacturing companies? At Tooling U-SME, we’ve found that what sets world-class companies apart from their competitors is an understanding of, and commitment to, investing in their employees, also known as “human capital.” A focus on human capital helps drive competitiveness. This is extremely important as you consider the existing and pending talent shortages. The skills gap is a major challenge for many manufacturers due...

STEM is the acronym for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education. #STEM was a very important topic in 2014, as it affects every aspect of our lives. Careers in STEM fields are constantly growing, and successful professionals in these areas are essential to growth as a society. According to the Brookings Institute, STEM jobs make up 20% of all jobs in the U.S. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that STEM jobs will increase 13% from now until 2022, a higher rate than all other careers. Not only will there be a greater number of careers in STEM, but the Bureau...

While the manufacturing industry is experiencing a rebirth in America, there is also a movement to get more women into manufacturing jobs and advancing in their careers. According to to the Joint Economic Committee of the United States Congress, women hold fewer than one third of the manufacturing jobs in the U.S., the lowest average since 1971. More manufacturing jobs are being created every day, and it’s time for women to have their share of the success. Deloitte (@DeloitteUS) and The Manufacturing Institute (@TheMfgInstitute) worked in conjunction to publish a report which concluded that women are the manufacturing industry’s most “untapped...

Social media is a subject people in the industrial world often shy away from, but this new form of communication made major headway in 2014. Companies like General Electric along with organizations like America Makes, SME, and NASA constantly utilize social media. In today’s business world social media is a necessary tool for building trust among customers, sharing news, promoting events, generating leads, and creating brand awareness. While some may argue that social media isn’t relevant to industrial manufacturing, Manufacturing Global sites it as one of the top ten manufacturing trends of 2014. And according to Industry Week its not going anywhere, as they predict social media will continue...

As 2014 comes to a close, the internet is filled with stories, articles, and reports on trends and hot topics that stood out during the past year. In addition there are many articles being written about things to watch for in the new year, such as up and coming markets or innovative technologies. Over the next few days we will be featuring some of these ideas in various posts, by collecting materials and digging deeper into these key concepts. Manufacturing is an industry that has been around for years but really seems to be making a “comeback.” According to PWC’s report...

Fastener News Desk was thrilled to attend the National Industrial Fastener & Mill Supply Expo this year in Las Vegas. We had an amazing time, got to meet so many great people, and saw some pretty incredible booths. This year we would like to honor some of our favorites with the 2014 NIFMSE Best Booth Awards. Booth Award #1 – Most Interactive Winner – Pacific West Fastener Association @PacWestFastener Pac-West really outdid themselves this year. They are always on top of their social media coverage, and this year their selfie extravaganza was awesome. Their twitter was always going throughout the show,...

“WIFI started as a way for women who work in the fastener industry to connect and network, and it has turned into so much more.” – WIFI President Pam Berry On October 22, 2014, Women in the Fastener Industry continued their annual speaker series at the 2014 National Industrial Fastener & Mill Supply Expo with, “What’s In Your Communications Toolbox? Sales Tools of the 21st Century, Social Media & You.” This year the speaker was Alison Cohen (@Alisonbck), an experienced communications and public relations professional, who spoke about social media for the fastener industry. At the event, Alison discussed different types of media...

Fastener News Desk wants to keep you updated with all the latest issues of your favorite industry related publications! Below is an up-to-date collection of the current magazines that can be viewed online. If there are any publications you are looking for digitally that are not listed, please comment and let us know! American Fastener Journal September/October 2014 Constructor Magazine September/October 2014 Distributor’s Link Summer 2014 Fastener + Fixing Issue 89 – September 2014 @FastenerNews ...

The month of October and through the fall season is a busy time in the industrial world. There are a variety of trade shows coming up, covering everything from fasteners to additive manufacturing. Follow Fastener News Desk and never miss a thing! FDA Forum on Additive Manufacturing of Medical Devices in Silver Spring, MD October 8-9, 2014 3D Printshow in Paris, France October 17-18 National Industrial Fastener & Mill Supply Expo in Las Vegas, NV October 22-24 Greenbuild International Conference and Expo in New Orleans, LA October 22-24 Specialty Tools & Fasteners Distributors Association Convention &...

On September 25, 2014 Hudson Fasteners, Inc. hosted the first ever additive manufacturing fastener symposium for North Coast Fastener Association members at America Makes in Youngstown, OH. The purpose of the event was to educate and introduce the fastener industry to the America Makes facility, which focuses on helping the United States grow the capabilities and strengths in 3D printing and additive manufacturing. It was an amazing event, everyone had a great time learning about this innovative technology as well as networking with our peers in the fastener industry. Hudson Fasteners wishes to extend a special thank you to Ralph Resnick,...

This week kicked off September, and with the new month comes a wide variety of trade shows and events across the globe. 3D Printing and manufacturing are hot topics right now, as well as innovation and sustainability. Fastener News Desk is here to keep you informed on upcoming shows with dates, locations, and even hashtags. Never miss an event and always be a part of the conversation by following Fastener News Desk! 3D Printshow London, England September 4-6, 2014 Hashtags: #3DPrinting #3DPS International Manufacturing Technology Show September 8-13, 2014 Chicago, Illinois Hashtags: #IMTS #Chicago Comfortech September 10-12, 2014...

Manufacturing Day is an annual event to promote awareness for the manufacturing industry, as well as educate the public on new and upcoming manufacturing technology. It is a nation-wide event that is held at the local level. On October 3, 2014, communities all over America will hold events to celebrate, endorse, and inform about manufacturing. You can participate in MFG DAY by hosting, sponsoring, or attending an event. You can even take part just by sharing your manufacturing story! You can submit your story here to have it added to the MFG DAY website. This year for the first time there is a...

Today, September 16, 2014, the UBI Index named the Youngstown Business Incubator the number one university affiliated incubator in the world. The CEO of the UBI Index, Ali Amin, came all the way from Stockholm, Sweden to announce the news in Youngstown, OH. This is an amazing accomplishment, Hudson Fasteners and @FastenerNews are honored to be a part of the YBI family. “We’re completely speechless. Other than to say, to each and every single one of you who helped YBI achieve this incredible global recognition, we sincerely thank you from the bottom of our hearts.” – Jim Cossler, CEO of the Youngstown Business Incubator...

Building a Nation of Makers is a report released by the Milstein Symposium in June 2014. The Milstein Symposium is an initiative out of the Miller Center at the University of Virginia, the goal of which is to restore and rebuild the American Dream. The report focuses on six ideas to stimulate the manufacturing movement happening in America, including “Talent Investment Loans” and a “Skills Census.” Read about all six in the full report here. Hashtags: #manufacturing #makers...

On September 25, 2014, Hudson Fasteners, Inc. and America Makes will be hosting the first fastener industry additive manufacturing symposium for members of the North Coast Fastener Association. The NCFA will be given a tour of the facility and explanations of the various technologies that are demonstrated. We will follow the tour with a discussion about additive manufacturing (3d printing) and how it is having and will continue to have an impact on many aspects of manufacturing including the world of fasteners. For more details please visit our event page or comment below. Thank you! Hashtage: #fasteners #AdditiveManufacturing #3DPrinting #AmericaMakes #Youngstown...

The 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing Summit is September 16-18 in Pittsburgh, PA. Attend this event to see how you can incorporate 3D printing into your business model, learn best business practices when it comes to additive manufacturing, and explore this exciting innovative technology. Speakers at the event include Rob Gorham of America Makes, Jim Williams of 3D Systems Corporation, Brett Conner of Youngstown State University, and many more experts in the field. Visit the 3dPAM website for all information. Fastener News Desk is a media partner for this event and will be there covering the summit! Follow us @FastenerNews for live updates! Register...